Like a pro ball player or a touring musician, Pete Souza spent eight years at one of those jobs that doesn’t really seem like work from the outside.
As the chief official White House photographer for President Barack Obama, Souza had a front-row seat to a historic presidency. Every day, he worked with his compelling and photogenic subject. He witnessed world-changing events and charming private moments. And he spent his evenings editing and compiling an awesome (in the truest sense of the word) photographic archive of Obama’s time in office.
It seems Souza had the coolest job in the world, but it’s more complicated than that, he says. “I understand why people say that… and there are days that I felt like that,” he tells me over the phone. “[But] it’s a very difficult job, physically and mentally. Some days it’s kind of like watching paint dry. Not every day is an exciting day.”